Smart Planning Will Drive Replacing the Power from Lower Snake River Dams
The Coalition released a white paper addressing the replacement of energy services from the lower Snake River dams. The paper examines the power system planning that utilities do regularly in the context of the lower Snake River dams power replacement discussion. The power system plans for retirement of generating resources all the time and regularly issues requests for replacement power. Furthermore, the Northwest has an abundance of proposed clean energy projects waiting to be built and connected.
The paper comes to the conclusion that with effective, timely planning, as utilities routinely do, the Federal Columbia River Power System can continue to serve the Northwest with emissions-free energy without the four lower Snake River dams. Once a decision is a made to proceed, the region can develop a clean resource plan with a mix of renewable resources and storage to replace the power and services of these dams while maintaining flexibility and affordability. A new, clean resource mix will better meet the needs of individual utilities and the region.